On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate your most recent experience, with 1 being very dissatisfied and 10 being very satisfied.

This question seems pretty straightforward, but in fact, this is the most misinterpreted question on every customer survey. Many auto dealers erroneously equate “very satisfied” with “loyal” when this is not the case. A satisfied customer does not mean they have any intent to visit your business again or purchase from you in the future.

Customer loyalty, however, can be used to more reliably predict sales and financial growth. While satisfaction is an attitude, loyalty is a specific buying behavior.

A loyal customer:

•  Makes regular repeat purchases.

•  Purchases everything you sell that they could possibly use.

•  Encourages others to buy from you.

•  Demonstrates immunity to the pull of your competitors.

It should be noted that each trait of loyal customers contributes – either directly or indirectly – to your sales; so as your loyalty base grows, chances are your sales will too.

When surveying your customers, be sure to ask questions that help you understand their buying habits. Don’t limit yourself to finding their level of satisfaction; aim to find those who are loyal – and to keep them that way

How do you measure customer loyalty? What types of questions could you use in surveys to help you gauge loyalty?

This blog is condensed from the article “Loyalty: So Much More Than Satisfied” on Driving Retention, the auto dealer’s one-stop service rewards program resource.

On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate your most recent experience, with 1 being very dissatisfied and 10 being very satisfied.

This question seems pretty straightforward, but in fact, this is the most misinterpreted question on every customer survey. Many auto dealers erroneously equate “very satisfied” with “loyal” when this is not the case. A satisfied customer does not mean they have any intent to visit your business again or purchase from you in the future.

Customer loyalty, however, can be used to more reliably predict sales and financial growth. While satisfaction is an attitude, loyalty is a specific buying behavior.

A loyal customer:

•  Makes regular repeat purchases.

•  Purchases everything you sell that they could possibly use.

•  Encourages others to buy from you.

•  Demonstrates immunity to the pull of your competitors.

It should be noted that each trait of loyal customers contributes – either directly or indirectly – to your sales; so as your loyalty base grows, chances are your sales will too.

When surveying your customers, be sure to ask questions that help you understand their buying habits. Don’t limit yourself to finding their level of satisfaction; aim to find those who are loyal – and to keep them that way

How do you measure customer loyalty? What types of questions could you use in surveys to help you gauge loyalty?

This blog is condensed from the article “Loyalty: So Much More Than Satisfied” on Driving Retention, the auto dealer’s one-stop service rewards program resource.

Three words that every salesperson hates to hear from a potential customer are these: “I’ll Be Back.” That’s because the average auto dealership sees 75 to 80 percent of floor traffic leave the store without purchasing a vehicle, and 40 percent of those shoppers will buy a vehicle in the next three days from a competitor.

But short of tackling your customers as they head out the door, what can you do to stop this mass defection? Offering an incentive to come back is one method that is proven to work. In a recent six-month long field test with auto dealers, a time-restricted, redeemable gift card was very effective at targeting these prospects and turning them into vehicle buyers. In fact, one Toyota dealership sold ten new Toyotas in the first 10 days on the program in which they offered a gift card for the buyer to return. And overall, dealers who offer an incentive card see 18-20% of prospects return and purchase a vehicle within 10 to 15 days.

Other ideas include following up immediately via phone and/or e-mail with a warm, personalized message. Customers want to feel appreciated and a little extra attention can go a long way.

Salespeople, what do you do when you hear those words, “I’ll Be Back?” What additional best practices have worked for you to get customers back into the dealership?

Three words that every salesperson hates to hear from a potential customer are these: “I’ll Be Back.” That’s because the average auto dealership sees 75 to 80 percent of floor traffic leave the store without purchasing a vehicle, and 40 percent of those shoppers will buy a vehicle in the next three days from a competitor.

But short of tackling your customers as they head out the door, what can you do to stop this mass defection? Offering an incentive to come back is one method that is proven to work. In a recent six-month long field test with auto dealers, a time-restricted, redeemable gift card was very effective at targeting these prospects and turning them into vehicle buyers. In fact, one Toyota dealership sold ten new Toyotas in the first 10 days on the program in which they offered a gift card for the buyer to return. And overall, dealers who offer an incentive card see 18-20% of prospects return and purchase a vehicle within 10 to 15 days.

Other ideas include following up immediately via phone and/or e-mail with a warm, personalized message. Customers want to feel appreciated and a little extra attention can go a long way.

Salespeople, what do you do when you hear those words, “I’ll Be Back?” What additional best practices have worked for you to get customers back into the dealership?

The goal of any loyalty program is to create additional sales, service and parts profits, along with strong word-of-mouth advertising for the dealership that helps to retain customers’ business for longer. Whether you opt for a third-party loyalty program vendor or choose to implement one in-house, the following steps are crucial for a successful program:

1) Strategy: Offer multiple membership levels, including a free “starter” base level offer, ascending to an advocate level for the best customers who frequently buy and refer friends. The goal is to create customers who talk positively about their experience and refer family and friends.

2) Process: Identify dealership market segments; design appropriate promotions and communications; establish a schedule for customer communications; design the rewards redemption process and program results measurement tools; train employees to properly promote & explain the program.

3) Management: Establish best practices and determine how much of your program you want to automate. Assign management duties for each part of the program.

4) Reporting & Measuring: Determine which metrics should be used to provide an accurate analysis of how the program is benefiting the dealership. Examples include increasing customer retention rates, decreasing service acquisition costs, selling more maintenance, i.e. increasing RO hours and revenue.

Excerpted from MediaTrac’s white paper:  “The Auto Retailer’s Ultimate ‘How-to’ Guide to Customer Loyalty & Retention Program Set Up, Management & Measurement.” To download your free copy, click here: http://www.drivingretention.com/?p=661

The goal of any loyalty program is to create additional sales, service and parts profits, along with strong word-of-mouth advertising for the dealership that helps to retain customers’ business for longer. Whether you opt for a third-party loyalty program vendor or choose to implement one in-house, the following steps are crucial for a successful program:

1) Strategy: Offer multiple membership levels, including a free “starter” base level offer, ascending to an advocate level for the best customers who frequently buy and refer friends. The goal is to create customers who talk positively about their experience and refer family and friends.

2) Process: Identify dealership market segments; design appropriate promotions and communications; establish a schedule for customer communications; design the rewards redemption process and program results measurement tools; train employees to properly promote & explain the program.

3) Management: Establish best practices and determine how much of your program you want to automate. Assign management duties for each part of the program.

4) Reporting & Measuring: Determine which metrics should be used to provide an accurate analysis of how the program is benefiting the dealership. Examples include increasing customer retention rates, decreasing service acquisition costs, selling more maintenance, i.e. increasing RO hours and revenue.

Excerpted from MediaTrac’s white paper:  “The Auto Retailer’s Ultimate ‘How-to’ Guide to Customer Loyalty & Retention Program Set Up, Management & Measurement.” To download your free copy, click here: http://www.drivingretention.com/?p=661

1) Don’t aim for a quick fix: customer loyalty is a long-term commitment.

2) Make it a process, not a program.

3) Establish and empower your loyalty team. Also regularly measure and review staff performance.

4) Know your customers’ buying habits.

5) Provide attainable, affordable rewards.

6) Measure your costs and return. It pays to understand the economics of loyal customer relationships.

7) Have a plan to recover your costs.

8) Communicate often and personally with customers and loyalty program members.

9) Provide a perceived value to your customers/members

10) Keep it simple.

These 10 steps are excerpted from MediaTrac’s recently released white paper, The Auto Dealer’s Ultimate “How to” Guide to Customer Loyalty and Retention Program Set Up, Management & Measurement. For more information and detail about these steps please visit http://www.drivingretention.com/?p=661 and download your FREE copy.

1) Don’t aim for a quick fix: customer loyalty is a long-term commitment.

2) Make it a process, not a program.

3) Establish and empower your loyalty team. Also regularly measure and review staff performance.

4) Know your customers’ buying habits.

5) Provide attainable, affordable rewards.

6) Measure your costs and return. It pays to understand the economics of loyal customer relationships.

7) Have a plan to recover your costs.

8) Communicate often and personally with customers and loyalty program members.

9) Provide a perceived value to your customers/members

10) Keep it simple.

These 10 steps are excerpted from MediaTrac’s recently released white paper, The Auto Dealer’s Ultimate “How to” Guide to Customer Loyalty and Retention Program Set Up, Management & Measurement. For more information and detail about these steps please visit http://www.drivingretention.com/?p=661 and download your FREE copy.

Many dealerships allow their finance managers to price prepaid maintenance programs (PPMs) high enough to shatter success from the start. They overprice PPMs thinking that the real benefit comes from profit built into the plan and forfeiture. While some new buyers will take the bait, the typical consumer, when asked to pay $895 for three years of scheduled maintenance, simply adds up the cost of nine or ten oil changes and a half dozen tire rotations and says, “Thanks, but no thanks!”

Successful PPMs are priced in such a way that even if a customer pulls out a calculator and – looking at the service menu – adds up the pricing for oil changes and tire rotations, the total represents at least an equal amount to what the F&I manager is charging them for the PPM.

Dealers who understand the full purpose and potential of PPMs price them well below the actual retail value. Instead of trying to turn huge profits in the F&I office, these dealers focus on the long-term potential of each customer. When incremental upsell can average over $90 per PPM visit, dealers quickly see RO numbers increase – as well as revenue. Statistics also show that up to 83% of customers will repurchase a future vehicle if the dealer can keep them returning to their service lane for regularly scheduled maintenance. With these two factors alone, even a PPM given away for free would more than pay for itself by the end of its contracted term.

With this type of program properly priced and executed, PPM sales penetrations can reach up to 50% or more, providing dealers opportunities to continually win over their customers.

Does your dealership sell PPMs? If your penetration is less than 50%, you could be pricing them too high. What do you think? 

Many dealerships allow their finance managers to price prepaid maintenance programs (PPMs) high enough to shatter success from the start. They overprice PPMs thinking that the real benefit comes from profit built into the plan and forfeiture. While some new buyers will take the bait, the typical consumer, when asked to pay $895 for three years of scheduled maintenance, simply adds up the cost of nine or ten oil changes and a half dozen tire rotations and says, “Thanks, but no thanks!”

Successful PPMs are priced in such a way that even if a customer pulls out a calculator and – looking at the service menu – adds up the pricing for oil changes and tire rotations, the total represents at least an equal amount to what the F&I manager is charging them for the PPM.

Dealers who understand the full purpose and potential of PPMs price them well below the actual retail value. Instead of trying to turn huge profits in the F&I office, these dealers focus on the long-term potential of each customer. When incremental upsell can average over $90 per PPM visit, dealers quickly see RO numbers increase – as well as revenue. Statistics also show that up to 83% of customers will repurchase a future vehicle if the dealer can keep them returning to their service lane for regularly scheduled maintenance. With these two factors alone, even a PPM given away for free would more than pay for itself by the end of its contracted term.

With this type of program properly priced and executed, PPM sales penetrations can reach up to 50% or more, providing dealers opportunities to continually win over their customers.

Does your dealership sell PPMs? If your penetration is less than 50%, you could be pricing them too high. What do you think?